2020 Photo Gallery
Welcome to Albion's 2020 Big Read Photo Gallery! 2020’s Big Read Summer Youth Leadership program was different than usual: we wore masks, met only outside or virtually, stayed 6 feet apart, and invited Big Read Ambassadors to take part again. But other parts of our program remained familiar. The summer involved reading, coming together, playing (a lot of) games, and discussing new ideas.
The goal of this gallery is to share the joy from the Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program and the 2020 Big Read month. The gallery is separated by events, which are categorized by date. The most recent event is listed at the top of this page. Click any small photo to make it larger, and use the arrows shown on collections to browse. Enjoy!
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
August 12, 2020
Every Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program incorporates an art project of some kind. This year’s project was TIE DYE! As part of our final together-apart summer meeting, Big Read Leaders and CVs defined their designs, chose their colors, and created pieces of art they can wear again and again. The meeting wrapped up with an intense game of JeParty (pronounced similarly to “Jeopardy”) where Leaders teamed up, competed in small tasks, and worked together to answer questions about Long Way Down.
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
July 29, 2020
In a typical year, Big Read Leaders spray paint the Rock on Albion College’s Quad. But this year, we changed it up! Still using spray paint, Leaders had a blast painting their names on our HUGE 2020 Big Read sheet signs. In the second half of the meeting, the Leaders talked about the complexities of loss and loyalty in Long Way Down and in their own lives. They also discussed how those concepts are intertwined with the possible answers to the final sentence in the novel, “You Coming?”
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
Virtual Meetings
Over the course of six weeks, Big Read Leaders met in-person on Wednesdays AND virtually on Thursdays! In our virtual meetings, we explored similarities between our lives and the lives in Long Way Down, which included topics such as…
What kinds of verbs family does for family (Leaders said verbs like “helps,” “trusts,” “protects,” “challenges,” “loves,” and more.)
The largest spaces or structures we’ve ever been inside and the smallest objects in our homes that contain something else
Important things we’ve done, felt, saw and heard and where those things happened
Loyalty, loss, and the possible answers to “You Coming?”
Times when past Big Read meetings or Youth-led Book Discussions made us feel something we wanted to feel. (Leaders said “joy,” “comfort,” “accomplished,” “respect,” “laughter,” “belonging,” and more.)
How participants felt/might feel when attending a Youth-led Book Discussion (Leaders said things like “excited,” “proud,” “connected,” “encouraged,” “accepted,” “sympathetic,” and “nervous.”)
Photo from July 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
July 15, 2020
As part of our third together-apart meeting, the Big Read Leaders split up into age-based groups and rotated between three activity stations. One station was a water-based relay race. The Leaders hopped on one foot with full cups of water and worked together to answer questions about Long Way Down to keep the relay going. Another station was a puzzle where Leaders deciphered names of Big Read Leaders and CVs that were written backwards on a sidewalk-sized piece of paper! The final station was a welcome sit in the shade paired with a discussion about the ways conflicting emotions show up in Long Way Down and in our own lives.
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
July 8, 2020
In our second together-apart meeting, Big Read Leaders kicked soccer balls while learning each others’ names and claimed their personal space with hula hoops. We used “tree leaves” (slips of paper hanging by string) with words and names from Long Way Down written on them as the anchor a discussion about the book, the facts, and the characters. Then we used those tree leaves to play a fierce game of “Heads Up!”
Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program
July 1, 2020
The Big Read Summer Youth Leadership Program has BEGUN! We started the summer right by introducing our superhero College Volunteers and playing the classic Shoe Game! Then we walked through labyrinths and the guidelines for COVID safety. With some snacks and much-needed tree shade, we wrapped up our meeting with a discussion about Long Way Down and “the rules.” We compared the rules described in the novel as well as the ones we interact with in our own lives: the ones we love, the ones we don’t, the ones that are unfair, and the ones that get broken.
